Log-sorting apparatus



Feb. 17, 1931. J w ETAL LOG SORTING APPARATUS Filed April 6, 1927 8 Sheets$heet l Feb. 17, 1931. J. DAW ETAL LOG SOR'I'ING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 6, 1927 Feb. 17, 1931. J. DAW ET AL 1,792,482

- [.00 SORTING APPARATTUS Filed April 6, 1927 8 SheetsSheet 5 Feb. 17, 1931.

J. DAW ET AL ,482

LOG SORTI NG APPARATUS Filed April 6. 1927 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Feb. 17, 1931. J. DAW ET AL 1,192,432

LOG SORTING APPARATUS Filed April 6. 192'? 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Jag/7% fl w (M7,?ew2 (70%mwa Feb. 17, 1931. J. DAW ETAL LOG SORTING APPARATUS I 8 S.Meta-Sheet 8 Filed April 6, 1927 fa/i323.

Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I JOSEPH DAWN, OF QUEBEC, AND CHARLES A. JOHNSON, OF LA TUQUE, QUEBEC, CAN ADA, AND MARLBOROUGH PACKARD, OF BERLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNORS T BROWN COMPANY, OF BERLIN, N HAMPSHIRE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE LOG-SORTING APPARATUS Application filed April 6, 1927. Serial No. 181,484.

This invention relates to apparatus for removing floating logs from the water to facilitate inspection and for providing different Channels into which the logs may be directed selectively as desired. In the operation of transporting logs from the woods where they are cut to mills or points at which the logs are to be handled, it is (iustomary when possible to float the logs on a stream, this usually being a convenient and economical means of transportation. It often happens that "logs in the course of being floated down the stream have to be sorted, as. for example for the purposevof selecting and taking out at a certain point logs of a certain quality, the others being allowed to float on down stream to be handled at a different point. It also happens in some places that the logs in astream are owned by two or more different parties. In such a case it is customary to put identifying marks upon the logs before they are thrown into the river, the logs being sorted out as they come down the stream by the various owners according to the marks which appear on the logs. Since on the average approximately twothirds of a floating log is submerged beneath the surface of the water, it is usually necessary to rotate the log on its axis in order to bring the identifying mark above the surface for inspection. This makes the task of sorting out logs as they float past the sorting point a difficult operation, especially at night, even when the current of the stream is very moderate. As a result, many logs get by the sorters where sorting is done manually as heretofore. By our invention, we provide an apparatus for picking up the logs from the water as they come so that the identitying marks are readily discernible. Means are provided for conveying each log which is i picked up along a sorting table which is of sufiicient length to afford ample time for inspection. Strange logs which are intended to be passed on to float further on down stream are permitted to be ejected from the down-stream end of the apparatus, the logs to be retained being diverted to one side into a channel leading to an impounding boom or other e vi g By ur-inve io every log as it comes along may be lifted from the water,.i nspected, a nd either sent on down stream or diverted as desired, this being accomplished with greater facility and by fewer men than were requiredfor the relatively ineifective sorting previously done by inspecting the logs as they floated past and steering them into the desired channels. By our invention also logs of diiferent length may be sorted conveniently, those of one length being picked up from the water for inspection, those of another length being allowed to pass through without being taken from the water. These and other advantageous and meritorious features of our invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the disclosure in the following description and on the drawings of which Figures 1, 2 and 3 together present a plan view of apparatus embodying our invention. Figures 4:, 5 and 6 present a longitudinal section of the apparatus taken on the lines 44 of Figure 1, 55 of Figure 2, and 66 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a transverse section on the line 'Z7 of Figure 2. a

Figure 8 is a transverse section of the apparatus on the line 88 of Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 99 of Figure 3. V

Figure 10 is a section on the line 1010 of Figure 3. v

Figure 11 is a plan view of a portion of one form of a conveyor chain which might be used on the sorting platform.

Figure 12 is a plan view of a portion of a form of a conveyor chain which might be used on the haul-up portion of the apparatus. 1

Figure 13 is a side elevation of the fragment of a chain shown in Figure 12, a part of one link being shown in section.

Figure 14 is a plan view of a portion of a modified form of the apparatus.

Figure 15 is a side elevation partly in. sec-' tion of the form of the apparatus shown in Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a diagrammatic representation of a complete layout of apparatus illustrating how an embodiment of our invention may be employed.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the apparatus comp ises essentially a suitable table or plat-form generally indicated at 20, this platform comprising preferably a power-operated conveyor 21 for transporting the logs from one end to the other thereof, and a footway 22 beside the conveyor upon which the operators may stand. The sorting table is preferably elongated to permit the operators smiicient time to inspect the logs for identifying marks and to direct them in accordance with the markings. The table is provided with means for supporting it above the surface of the water with its long axis approximately in the direction of the stream current. Any desired supporting means may be used such as cribs or piling resting on the bottom, but in order to avoid diiiiculties due to changing levels of the stream, we prefer to float our apparatus by means of suitable buoyant members such as the ponteens 23. The use of pontoons enabling the shifting of the apparatus when required, is also of value in view of the tendency of loose bark to accumulate in the river just below the downstream end of the platform. In relatively shallow streams, the loose bark soon piles up on the river bottom to such an extent as to interfere with the discharge of logs from the end of the platform. When this occurs the whole apparatus can be shifted to avoid the bark. The bark heaps are broken up in winter by the formation of ice on the river and are swept out annually by spring freshets. Any convenient number of pontoons may be utilized for supporting the sorting table with a desired degree of stability. A preferred arrangement of apparatus shown in Figure 16, but it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration only and that the various parts may be arranged in a variety of different ways accor ling to the requirements of local conditions and other factors. As diagrammatically indicated in Figure 16, two sorting tables 20 are shown, but it is to be understood that any number of tables may be arranged with supporting pontoons 23 at suitable angle to the direction of the tables to deflect a surface current in a transverse direction leading into a storage pond 2 1 defined by booms 25, 26. Suitable booms 27, 28 are provided up stream to direct the floating logs to the sorting tables, these booms being moored to suitable piers 29 or other up-stream anchoring means. Between the piers 29 and the sorting tables 20 parallel booms 26, 30, 31 provide channels in which operators may swing logs around into suitable position to be picked up by the haulup member 32 which slopes downwardly into the water from the up-stream end of the sorting table 20 and supports a conveyor adapted to pick up floating logs from the water and to deposit them upon the upstream end of the sorting table 20. The legs which are picked up are carried along the table 20 in a down-stream direction and those which are to be retained in the storage pond are ejected laterally from the table into the channel 83 formed by the pontoons and having a transverse current leading into the storage pond 24. The strange logs are pernitted to be carried by the conveyor to the down-stream end of the table 20 where they are dumped off the end of the conveyor into the stream and float on down stream. In some cases it may be desirable to reverse the process, throwing the strange logs off the side of the platform and discharging the picked logs off the end of the platform into storage. In the pulp wood industry, it is customary according to present practice to cut a log into various lengths, these being usually l-foot and upwards. It sometimes happens that logs of two different lengths come down the same stream and must be sorted both by length and by markings. If for example 4-foot and 14-foot logs come down stream, and all of the 4-foot logs and certain of the l t-foot logs are to be diverted into the storage pond 24, we may divide the tip-stream pontoons into two sections 3d, 35, these two sections being spaced apart underneath the up-stream end portion of the sorting table 20. The haul-up 32 in such a case is preferably constructed with no bridging members connecting the two conveyor chain supporting members which extend in an upstream direction from the end of the table 20. This provides an open channel between the two parallel members of the haul-up apparatus 32 which is in line with the channel between the portions 3-; and 35 of the upstream pontoon. The operators on the booms 26 and 30 thus arrange the lt-foot logs in line with the current so that they float through between the parts of the haulup 82 and the up-stream pontoon and are deflected by the current 33 into the storage pond 54:. The 14-foot logs are arranged by the operators transverse to the current as they approach the haul-up so that they are readily picked up, deposited on the sorting table, and further disposed of according to their markings. This operation may of course be reversed, the shorter logs being picked up on the table and sorted. The method may be used also for logs of other and various lengths. If the apparatus is installed in a mill pond or body of water having little or no current an artificial cross current may be set up in the channel 33 by propellers or other suitable means. Any desired number of sorting tables may be arranged as shown in Figure 16 according to local conditions.

Referring to the structure of the apparatus in more detail, the table 20 may be constructed of-any suitablematerialsand may he ofany.

desired sizelor shape according to the nature of the'logsto be handled and the conditions under which theiapparatus is to be used. As

shown on the drawings, our table may com-- prise a pair of heavy steel I-beams 36 which extend the entire length of the sorting .table and support-a suitable super-structure 37 for carrying conveyor chains. Along one side of the super-structure 37 isthe footway or platform 22 for the operators. This footway .may be supported byanyinanner of construction which provides sufficient strength. Secured to the upstreamendof the I-beams 36 is the haul-up apparatus 32 which may beconstructed of two membersarranged in parallel relation as shown in Figure 3 .and sloping downwardly (Figure 6.) so as to submerge the lower and upstream end of these members beneath the surfaceof the water. These parallel members of thehaul-up 32 each supporta chain conveyor '38 for picking up logs :from the water and carrying them to the sorting table. Such conveyors are provided at suit- I able intervals with "upstanding lugs 39 (Figures 12 and 13), this type of conveyor being well known in the art. Near the upstream end of the haul-up 32 are suitable sheaves or sprocket wheels 40 about which the conveyor chains 38 pass. These sheaves are preferably mounted .in adjustable journals (Figure 6.) so as totake up slack in the conveyor chains 38; The parallel members of the haul-lup 32 are preferablyof a doubledeck construction as shown in Figures 9 and 10,

this being in order to provide suitable tracks to support the chain conveyor 38. As shown in Figures?) and 10, the haul-up members 32 are strongly constructed and are provided with suitable tracks .41 to support the stretches. of conveyors 38 which move from the sheaves-40. toward the sorting table, and

with lower tracks 42 to support the conveyors 38 on their return toward the sheaves 40. The conveyor chainsi38 are driven bysuitable sprocket wheels 43 which ,as-shown in, Figure 5 aresufiiciently depressed below the'surface of the sorting table 20 to remove the lugs 39 on theconveyorchains 38 from contact with the logs before these lugs 39swingaround the sprocket wheels 43. This prevents jamming of small logs between the surtace of the table.

andthe lugs 39 whic ightccur if th pr cke Whe ls 4 wer on a level with the 2 surface of the table. We may, if desired, ex-

tend the conveyor chain 38 not only over the length ofthe haul-up 32, but also to the downstream end of the table itself. In the form of apparatus illustrated, however, we show two separate sets of conveyor chains, the chains.

38 extending only -.so far as the sprocket wheels 43, and a second pair of chains 44 eX- tending from adjacent the upper end of the table to the lower end thereof. Near the upper end of the table arerprovioled a pair of suitable sprocket wheels 45 about. which the conveyors 44 are passed. Just below the downstream end of the table are apa1r of chain conveyors 44 between the sprocket wheels 45 and 46 are supported on suitable tracks 47, 48 built into the super-structure 37 of the table. In order to avoid openings between the tracks 47 in which the ends of logs may catch and jam, we prefer to floor over the superstructure 37 of the table between the tracks 47 as at 49, this flooring being preferably sheathed with light sheet iron or steel. The conveyor chains 44 which traverse the length of the table itselfare preferably without any upstanding projections such as the lugs 39 ofthe chain conveyors 38, Such projections are ordinarily not necessary for the horizontal transfer of ithe logs, and their absence avoids another possible cause. 01? jamming. Any suitable means for ejecting logs laterally from the-table into the transverse channel 33 may be adopted, As shown on the drawings, we, omployfor this purpose a seriesof rolls 50, preferably power operated, 9:

arranged inaxial alinement along the side of the table opposite the footway 22.- The tops of these rollsare preferably disposed slightly below the plane of the upper surfaces of the chain conveyors .44 so that logs carried by ,ther end. Since the roll 50 is rotating, the

log is drawn thereby laterally oil the table and is thus ejected into the channel 33, the currentof which sweeps itinto the storage pond.

Any suitable or convenient means may be provided for driving the chain conveyors 38, 44 and the rolls 5,0. As illustrated on the drawings, we provide a suitabl v motor 51 which may be connected through gearing to a shaft 52 on which are mounted the-sprocket wheels 46, thus providing for the driving of the conveyor chains 44. Thesprocket wheels 45 are thus drivenby the conveyor chain44, and maybe fixed to. a shatt '53 n which may also be mounted a pairof sprocket wheels 4 connected as by chains or bolts 55. to corresponding sprocket wheels 56. These maybe Secured to a suitable shaft 57 on which also are mounted the sprocket wheels 43, thus providing for the driving of the haul-up conveyor chains 38. As shown in Figures 1 and 7, we may provide a separate motor 58 to drive the rolls 50, this motor being operatively connected with the rolls, 50 by suitable gearing as shown.

The apparatus may be floated, if desired, by any suitable buoyant means. In order to insure sufficient stability, it is desirable that the .floating member, such as. the pontoons ilsprocketwhools 46. The stretches of t e IOU lustrated, be of considerable horizontal area so that the shifting of weights thereon as by the travel of logs thereacross will not cause undue tilting or rocking of the entire apparatus. It is likewise desirable that the pontoons extend sufiiciently below the surface of the water to deflect a surface current through the channel Since suflicient horizontal area and depth of immersion of the pontoons would ordinarily provide more than enough buoyancy for the apparatus, it is generally desirable to ballast the pontoons in order to sink them to a suitable draft. To this end, therefore, we preferably construct the pontoons with watertight bulk heads forming a number of compartments which may be filled and emptied as desired to give the table the desired trim and elevation above the water. Such ballasting compartments may also be utilized to tilt the entire apparatus in such a Way as to bring the extreme ends of the haulup member 32 out of water for purposes of inspection or repair.

The pontoons may be constructed of any convenient or desirable materials such as wood or sheet metal. Where the up-stream pontoon is divided into two sections 34, 35, we provide strong connecting girders 59 to hold these members rigidly in their relative positions. If desired, a further stiffening member 60 may be used to connect the bottoms of these sections, the member 60 preferably extending well below the surface of the water in order not to interfere with logs floating between the sections 34, 35.

In Figures 14 and 15 is illustrated a modified form of structure comprising a swivel connection between the table 20 and the pontoons. This modified construction may include a pivot member 61 concentric with which is arranged a suitable gear segment 62, the teeth of which mesh with a pinion 63 which is mounted on a shaft 64 journaled in suitable bearings supported by the table 20. By rotating the pinion 63 the pontoons may thus be adjusted to any angle relative to the table 20. By adj ustin the angle of the pontoons, the direction of tlie current in the channel 33 may to some extent be controlled.

In cases where all the logs of a certain length are to be directed into the pond by directing them between the haul-up members 32, a vertical guide wall 7 0 may be provided, as shown in Figure 6, to guide the logs passing between the haul-up members 32 into the channel 33. As will be apparent from Figure 16, such a guide wall will be particularly desirable on the side of each haul-up toward the storage pond, but guide walls may be put on both members of each haul-up if desired. The guide walls are preferably constructed to extend a foot or two beneath the surface of the water, and may be made as separate attachments or may be built into the apparatus.

Having thus described certain embodiments of our invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from its spirit or scope as defined by the appended claims.

1. A mechanism of the class described, comprising a pair of pontoons spaced to form a passage therebetween for floating logs, a platform transversely bridging said pontoons and supported thereby, means for picking up floating logs at one side of said pontoons and transferring said logs to said platform, means for discharging logs at the other side of said pontoons, and means for discharging logs between said pontoons.

2. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a pair of pontoons in substantially parallel spaced relation, an elongated platform extending across and bridging the space between said pontoons and supported thereby, said platform being normally horizontal, a conveyor extendible from an end of said platform into the water, means for conveying logs from one end of the platform to the other, and a series of axially alined power-driven rolls along one side of said platform arranged to constitute a substantially continuous horizontal roll extendin across the space between the pontoons, said rolls being positioned slightly below the logsupporting level of said conveyor.

3. Apparatus for sorting stream-borne logs, comprising a platform normally extending substantially in the direction of the main current of the stream, spaced means supporting respectively the upstream and downstream ends of the platform, said means being extended below the surface of the water and arranged to deflect a surface cross current to flow beneath said platform transversely thereto, and means for transferring logs from the water to the platform at one end and for selectively discharging logs from the other end of the platform or laterally into said cross current.

4. Apparatus of the class described, comprising an elongated platform, a pair of spaced pontoons respectively supporting the ends of said platform, said pontoons having their long axes arranged substantially parallel and biased to the platform, one of said pontoons being divided into two spaced portions having the space between beneath a portion of said platform, and a pair of spaced conveyor members extending from an end of said platform and sloping downwardly, said conveyor members and divided pontoon being arranged to form an open passage to the space between the two pontoons.

5. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a platform, means on said platform for conveying logs lengthwise thereof, a pair of spaced pontoons supporting said plat- 

